(zajac) a modern oboist can get a full blossomy sound and a very focused sound and a nasty sound, butay a crumhorn, in the renaissance, to take an obvious example-- it makes this one sound. [buzzing, nasal sounds] it's a very peculiar sound, a very nasal sound. and so it seems that renaissance musicians would rely on playing different instruments throughout an evening to give whoever was listening different tone colors or different timbres. [ensemble continues] (zajac) we're not sure if composers wrote music with specific timbres in mind because they don't indicate for the most part what instruments are to be played on the music. we know from other sources, paintings showing instrumental combinations and written records, that there was basically two different concepts about instrumental combinations in the renaissance. one was having a group of like-sounding instruments, for example, four recorders all of different sizes playing together. it's a beautiful sound, somewhat like a pipe organ because you don't hear the individual voices as much as just this beautiful sonority. the other c